Ava

Please forgive me for my absenteeism, we had a baby on November 7, 2011, and she is my overall priority. I will continue to try to get posts up and hopefully I will stop neglecting the fabulous blog. Thanks!

About Me

I am just trying to enjoy beer responsibly, and hope others enjoy the same that I do.
I went from living in Central PA, to downtown Baltimore, and now I moved back to Central PA/bought a house/got married. I still work in Baltimore, which allows me to be open to obtaining the precious beer that I love, but it introduces me to others that cannot be found in Baltimore. I am now in search of my new home bar and perfecting my new hobby- homebrewing.

Wanna Write?

Thursday, July 26, 2012

Finding Good Beer in your Travels

Zeno's in State College

I love going to new and different places. I love finding a
neat little beer bar. Sometimes you get lucky and walk into a place that has 8
awesome taps, other times it is all BMC. For me, I have started preparing
before I get to my destination to know where I might want to go. But for those
times when you show up, what can you do?

1. Think Local. Is there a local brewery or brewpub? Stop in
and have a drink. Chat up the staff. Most will know the local beer bars and
where their beer is located.

2. Stay away from chain restaurants. I always try to stay
local when eating, and I have yet to find a chain that has a good selection of
quality craft brews. The big boys pay for this spot on the taps.

3. It’s all in the Apps.

Untappd- If you aren’t a part of it, it is a beer social
network that allows you to log your beers, where you drank them and view what
others are drinking. This becomes useful when you use the “Nearby” feature. You
can see what other users are drinking near you, and many times where (the bar)-
showing what is on tap at the places.

RateBeer Places app- RateBeer is a website that allows users
to rate and review beer. Its app allows for you to search for a
bar/brewery/brewpub using the GPS on your phone. Very convenient, and since it
is a beer ratings app they bars have a star rating.

BeerCloud- BeerCloud is another app that allows for user
input on bars and become “fans” of the bar. I don’t think this is as good of a
resource as Untappd or Ratebeer Places, but it is another that could be useful.

Foursquare- This is good for letting you know that people
are there, but it not being a beer app, there isn’t much of a filter on whether
it is a good or bad beer place.

Overall, I like to preplan for my trips, but when you are
there, you never know what info you want or need. Hopefully these tips can help
direct you to good beer in the future.